


Your Raving Fan part 2/?

by Satansfavoriteshitposter



Series: Your Raving Fan [2]
Category: Cobra Starship, Fall Out Boy, My Chemical Romance, Panic! at the Disco
Genre: Customer Service, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-20
Updated: 2019-11-20
Packaged: 2021-02-18 02:20:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,799
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21503644
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Satansfavoriteshitposter/pseuds/Satansfavoriteshitposter
Summary: Brendon takes Ryan to a magical department store.
Relationships: Ryan Ross/Brendon Urie
Series: Your Raving Fan [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1549957





	Your Raving Fan part 2/?

**Author's Note:**

> This chapter is almost word for word out of the book, it's just That Extra™. Enjoy! xo
> 
> -L

Chapter 2

***

Driving away from the country club, Brendon directed Ryan towards West Highway and told him to park at Decaydance Mall. Brendon let him into Stump’s Department Store, a name he didn’t recognize.

It’s not often you see a local department store in a major mall alongside the big nationals, he thought as he walked up to the door.

“You’re right about that,” said Brendon, commenting on Ryan’s thoughts, once again. “There’s a reason though. Stump’s sales per square foot are nearly double the big boys’. Come on in and find out why.”

Entering the store, Ryan noticed that it was very crowded. They were greeted by a tall slender man wearing a neatly pressed pinstripe suit and a warm smile. “Welcome to Stump’s,” he said. “If I may, I’ll pin a white carnation on each of you. We have free coffee today in the Garden Court on the third floor and if we can be of service, please ask. Thank you for coming to Stump’s,” the man concluded.

“That’s some greeting!” Ryan said. “Other stores could use that system.”

“Of course they could,” Brendon replied. “All good customer service is a result of nifty systems. Now let’s go see the store!” Brendon grabbed Ryan’s hand and started pulling him toward the center aisle, almost skipping. Goddamned tutu bouncing with every step. “Your girlfriend’s birthday is next week, Time you bought her a gift…”

Ryan had been trying to decide what to buy for Keltie and wondered to himself why, if Brendon knew it was her birthday, he couldn’t tell him what she wanted.

“I know what she wants. I’m just checking to see if you know,” Brendon said with a laugh. “Go for the new Palahniuk book. That’s what she really wants. The only problem is they’re sold out until new ones arrive tomorrow. But let’s go to the book department and try to buy her a copy.”

Feeling the perfect fool because Brendon had already said they were temporarily out of stock, he walked up to the book sales desk.

“Good afternoon sir, How may I help you?” asked a saleslady with short, bobbed black hair. He noticed that, like all the staff, she wore a red carnation and a large name tag: VICTORIA.

Ryan asked Victoria for a copy of the book.

“What a great book,” she exclaimed. “I’m reading it myself right now! Unfortunately, we’re sold out until tomorrow. Will you be in the store long?”

“We’re just looking around. Probably fifteen to twenty minutes,” Ryan said looking puzzled.

“That’s plenty of time,” Victoria said. “I know a store in the mall that had some copies in the window when I passed by earlier. I’ll have a copy here for you in fifteen minutes. May I gift wrap it?”

As they left the counter Ryan said to Brendon, “I’ll admit, I’m impressed. But I bet that book will cost me an arm and a leg by the time they buy it at retail and sell it to me gift wrapped.”

“You’ll pay what they pay. To the penny,” said Brendon. “No one undersells Stump’s – and gift wrapping is free!”

Looking around, Ryan noticed a large play area with supervisors to look after children while parents shopped.

Just then Brendon announced, “There’s the escalator. The washrooms are on the second floor. That’s our second stop.”

He obediently followed Brendon and soon found that inspection was the point of the visit. “Washrooms will always tell you if a company cares about their customers,” Brendon proclaimed.

Entering the men’s washroom, Ryan came to a sudden halt, astonished by what he saw. The washroom was nicer than the locker room at his private country club. Soft lighting, rich wood paneling, and real marble counters left no doubt that at Stump’s Department Store, making customers feel comfortable was important. Beside each basin was a stack of white cloth hand towels; each shelf under the mirrors held bottles of every grooming aid imaginable. A man wearing a white coat was polishing the mirrors. The washroom was spotless.

“Looks good to me,” Brendon said, turning back towards the escalator. “Time to go. Don’t want to be late.”

“How can they afford to hand out carnations, go to other stores for books, look after kids, and have washrooms like that?” Ryan asked.

“You’d better ask Patrick.”

“Patrick?”

“Patrick Stump. The man responsible for all this. He’s expecting us,” said Brendon as he rounded an aisle and headed for the center of the store.

Turning a corner, they came on a sight Ryan would never forget. In the middle of the store floor, where all the aisles converged like a town square, was a raised platform about twenty feet across, covered in red carpet. In the center of the platform sat a large executive desk. There was no doubt who sat behind the desk. A large sign proclaimed:

PATRICK STUMP  
MAY I HELP YOU?  
PLEASE COME UP AND SAY HELLO.  
Brendon, with Ryan close behind, walked right up to the desk.

“Ah. There you are, Bren,” Patrick Stump said looking up from his papers. “And this must be the friend you were telling me about. Do sit down. Welcome to Stump’s.”

Introductions over, Ryan couldn’t help but ask about Patrick’s office. “Is this the first secret to creating Raving Fans?” he asked gesturing to the elevated desk in the center of the store.

“Not exactly,” laughed Patrick. “But in my case, it’s certainly part of it. When our store moved into this mall, I worried that I’d never get out of the office. I solved that by putting my office right out here in the middle of things. Best move I ever made.”

Brendon spoke up, “Our friend here was wondering how you can afford to give away carnations, have play areas and fancy washrooms, and on top of that send people out of the store to buy things for customers elsewhere?”

“Wrong question.” replied Patrick firmly.

“Wrong question?” puzzled Ryan.

“Absolutely wrong question,” Patrick confirmed. “The real question is ‘How can I afford not to do it?’ This is Stump’s, and at Stump’s Department Store we live the vision. The vision says, ‘Carnations and make it a joy to shop here.’ It doesn’t say, ‘No flowers, sorry we can’t help you, and don’t come shopping if you’ve got children.’”

“Glad to see you’re sticking with the vision,” said Brendon.

“Have to. It’s what I want,” replied Patrick. Then, turning to Ryan, he said, “I understand you’re interested in learning the first secret of creating Raving Fans?”

“I am,” Ryan answered simply.

“Easy enough to do,” said Patrick, reaching into a drawer and lifting out a jewelry case. Opening the case, he took out a gold bracelet with a shield in the center.

“This is the Raving Fans bracelet. The first secret is engraved on it. When Brendon taught me the Raving Fans secrets, I volunteered to present each new candidate with a gold bracelet. Your wrist, please.”

Ryan stretched his long, boney arm out across the desk and Patrick snapped the bracelet in place.

Patrick said “Read what’s engraved on the shield.”

Turning the shield up to catch the light, Ryan read:

DECIDE WHAT

YOU WANT

Ryan was disappointed with the message. Perhaps he had expected something more magical.

“You’re wondering what it’s all about, aren’t you?” Patrick asked.

“I am,” Ryan replied honestly.

“I’d love to tell you all about the secret, but Brendon has a system for teaching the secrets and we know enough to follow systems, don’t we, Brendon?”

“Right you are, Patrick. Systems are beautiful.”

“So there we are,” said Patrick. “We’d best follow the system. But in the meantime, I can tell you that the first thing you have to do is just remember what the shield says: Decide what you want. Remember, you are the source, Patrick concluded.

“Time to go!” Brendon sang out. “We’ve got a book being gift wrapped in the book department, then we’re on our way to buy groceries.”

With that, Brendon hustled Ryan off the platform amid hurried goodbyes. Brendon did pause a moment however to ask “I don’t suppose you’ve taken up golf?”

“Never touch it,” Patrick replied with a grin. “It’s addictive, I hear.”

“Ah, well,” said Brendon.

When they returned to the book department, Ryan found his book gift wrapped, and as Brendon had predicted, the price was exactly what Stump’s had paid.

“Thanks for all your help,” said Ryan to Victoria. Then, leaning slightly forward, he asked in a very serious manner, “Tell me, Victoria, why do you go to all this trouble?”

The woman answered with equal seriousness. “Well, it’s store policy to look after our customers’ needs whenever possible. Mr. Stump calls it Raving Fan Service, and he encourages us to use our own initiative. Besides, it’s fun. I used to work in another department store. It was boring work. I resented the store treating me like a stupid machine, and my bad attitude was reflected in the way I treated their customers. It’s the exact opposite at Stump’s. Now I help people and I enjoy doing it.

“I also like the feedback we get from our supervisors. We are all graded on our service to customers. The last store I worked in had mystery shoppers, but there, the only feedback we received was being dumped on by management if you didn’t do well. Here, management congratulates us when we do well and helps us when we don’t. Raises and promotions go to those who deliver Raving Fan Service. It’s nice to do a job and be recognized for it. And please, feel free to call me Vicky.” She concluded.

Ryan thanked her again before saying goodbye.

On their way out, Ryan noticed a sign by the ladies’ dressing rooms that said, NO LIMIT ON CLOTHES TAKEN INTO THE DRESSING ROOMS: OUR STAFF WILL BE GLAD TO GO LOOK FOR OTHER COLORS OR SIZES OR BRING CLOTHING SUGGESTIONS TO YOU.

“Look at that sign,” he said to Brendon. “I’ll have to bring Keltie here. It’s worth the ride. She gets so angry having to try on outfits two or three pieces at a time, then having to go out of the changing room to exchange something.”

“One customer out of a thousand steals something in a dressing room,” said Brendon. “Next day, the store puts up a sign offending the other nine hundred and ninety-nine customers, making one crook laugh as they find a new way to steal. No one ever seems to compute the cost of offending so many customers in order to slow down one crook. Dressing room limits are a blatant example of abusing customers. Now, think about the first secret and we’ll head to our next appointment.

***

to be continued x


End file.
